SCOTLAND’S leading Scotch whisky tourism operator, Diageo, welcomed more than one million people at its visitor experiences for the first time last year, in a major boost for the Scottish tourist economy.
The company, which operates 12 distillery brand homes around Scotland and the Johnnie Walker Princes Street visitor experience in Edinburgh, has made an industry-leading investment of £185million to create world-class attractions in Scotland. The first visitor figures to be published since the Covid pandemic show the investment starting to pay off with numbers reaching a new high for the company.
The figures for the calendar year 2023 showed that across all its attractions, the company welcomed 1.13 million visitors in the first full post-Covid year of operations.
Johnnie Walker Princes Street, the global brand home for the world’s best-selling Scotch whisky, opened its doors in September 2021 and welcomed 359,000 people in 2023. There were also strong figures for long-established distillery visitor attractions around Scotland with Talisker on the Isle of Skye welcoming 184,000 people, and 157,000 visiting Oban Distillery in Argyllshire.
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Other highlights across the company’s portfolio of famous distilleries include Blair Athol in Pitlochry with 82,000 visitors, Singleton of Glen Ord near Inverness with 64,000 visitors, Lagavulin on Islay with 57,000 visitors and Dalwhinnie in the Highlands with 55,000 visitors.
Katie Harris, Managing Director of Diageo Scotland Brand Homes, said: “Scotch whisky is well-established as Scotland’s leading export to the world and every bottle we sell around the world is an invitation to visit Scotland and experience its amazing culture, heritage and environment.
“The great thing about Scotch whisky tourism is that it creates opportunities all across Scotland, from our capital city to the communities of the highlands and islands where many of our distilleries are located.
“We are incredibly proud to have welcomed more than a million people through our doors for the first time in Scotland, but we believe this is just the start and there is a powerful opportunity for further growth, with all the positive benefits that will bring to Scotland.”
The release comes as tourism and hospitality leaders meet in Aberdeen for the 2024 Scottish Tourism Month Flagship Signature Conference. Marc Crothall, CEO of Scottish Tourism Alliance (STA), said: “These figures highlight further evidence that Scotch whisky is making a fantastic contribution to both driving visitor demand and growing Scotland’s visitor economy across the length and breadth of the country”
The Diageo investment in its Scotch whisky visitor experiences was designed to appeal to global trends in food and drink tourism, with consumers seeking to engage in authentic stories and experiences relating to the brands they purchase.
Since launching, Johnnie Walker Princes Street has received several national and international accolades as a leading tourism destination. Rated as a five-star attraction by VisitScotland, it also recently won the World’s Leading Spirit Experience and Europe’s Leading Spirit Tourism Experience at the World Travel Awards. The Edinburgh brand home was also named as the Icons of Whisky Visitor Attraction of the Year, and won the coveted global Themed Entertainment Association (THEA) Award for Outstanding Achievement.
Just last week The Singleton of Glen Ord Distillery, located in Muir of Ord, was named Scotland’s Leading Distillery Tour 2024 at the World Travel Awards (WTA).
All Diageo brand homes hold the Green Tourism Gold Award – the highest sustainability accolade for a visitor attraction.
According to the most recent Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) figures for the industry more than 2 million people visited Scotch whisky visitor experiences in 2022 calendar year.
